Friends,

The Guilford College Board of Trustees will have their second meeting of the academic year Feb. 25-26 on Zoom. The meeting will be led by our new board chair, Ione Taylor ’76, who is the first woman in that role, and, of course, it will be my first meeting as President.

I invite you to become more acquainted with our board, currently a 19-member group of volunteer leaders including 13 alumni and a former Guilford parent. Some of the members have served one or more terms, but nine of the members have served three or fewer years, and we expect they will be joined later this year by other new trustees.

The board delegates most of the responsibilities for operating the College to the administration, led by the President. However, one of the board’s primary responsibilities is oversight of Guilford’s finances, which relates to key items on the agenda for this meeting: an FY22 financial update and approval of tuition and fees for FY23.

The board has six councils that do their work between the regular board meetings, and trustee leaders of those councils will offer reports. The councils are: 

• Philanthropic Leadership
• Trustee and Governance
• Academic Environment
• Finance
• Constituent Engagement and Reputation
• Student Experience and Success

Other reports will be offered by staff and faculty on important topics such as Enrollment, Communications and Marketing, and Every Campus a Refuge (ECAR). There will be a Quaker Traditions Interactive Session led by Wess Daniels.

In addition to setting next year’s tuition and fees, board action is anticipated on:

• Endowed Professorships 
• Tenured Professor
• New Trustees
• Ethical Leadership Fellows Scholarship

The board will welcome our Vice President for Advancement-designate, Danny Gatling, and offer appreciation to Ed Winslow, who is rotating as chair after eight years, and Jim Hood ’79, interim president in 2021. In addition, it will remember Gus Davis ’72, a trustee who died suddenly in early January.
 
One of my commitments as President and of our board chair is regular communication about board activity. In that spirit, faculty, staff and students are invited to join me for a post-trustee-meeting briefing Wednesday, March 2, at 1 p.m. on Zoom. 

Our trustees plan to be in person for their May meeting and it will be wonderful to welcome them back to campus.

Have a great week!

Sincerely,
Kyle Farmbry
President